There are a lot of reasons to become a coyote hunter. Here are four.

High Speed

I caught the coyote out of the corner of my eye. As I began to shift my gun to the right, the coyote vears over the hill and out of sight. The whole episode lasted maybe five seconds. I scramble to a higher vantage point but can’t locate the coyote in the thick sage brush covering the valley. The stand is done. It’s hard to find an pursuit that can go from zero to 60 as fast as coyote hunting. Each stand lasts only fifteen to twenty minutes, and coyotes can appear out of nowhere at any moment. Even when you can see them coming from a distance, they often come in at a trot and are highly alert.

Improving for Other Hunts

By comparison, deer hunting can feel as painfully slow as the instant replay of your team’s kicker shanking the game-tying field goal in the Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com bowl this year. I truly believe the pace of coyote hunting makes me more comfortable with the amount of time I have to judge a whitetail and take the shot. As a result, coyote hunting is not only enjoyable, it can also improve your ability to hunt other animals.

Predator Control

Coyotes eat a variety of things. I would say a variety of animals, but coyotes will eat just about anything. Their diet includes mice, rabbits, squirrels, possums, skunks, berries, nuts, trash but, most importantly, pheasants and deer. With pheasant and deer populations around much lower than we would hope, we believe it is important to do what we can to promote growth. Hunting and trapping coyotes does just that. The same could be said for crows, possums and raccoons, so have fun.

Something to Do

It’s January in Iowa and there isn’t a whole lot else to do. A new season of Dancing with the Stars won’t come on for several weeks and while we can’t wait to see Terry Bradshaw dislocate a hip, your time is better spent coyote hunting. Get out there. Stu.